This invention relates to a new chemical process, more particularly, to a new method for the production of cyclic alkylene carbonates.
In the past, cyclic alkylene carbonates such as ethylene carbonate and propylene carbonate have been made by a variety of methods including the reaction of a glycol with phosgene, the transesterification reaction of a glycol with a dialkyl carbonate, and the addition of CO.sub.2 to an epoxide. Alkylene carbonates have also been made by the reaction of a glycol with carbon monoxide and oxygen although the yields reported for this reaction have been relatively low.
It is known that hexachloroacetone reacts with an alcohol in the presence of a tertiary amine or other acid acceptor to produce chloroform plus the corresponding alkyl ester of trichloroacetic acid, see Khaskin et al., Chem. Abstr., 85:46003m (1976), also Migaichuk et al., J. Appl. Chem. (USSR transl.), 50, 2471-3 (1977). It is also known that an alkyl trichloroacetate further reacts with a mole of an alcohol to form another mole of chloroform and the corresponding dialkyl carbonate, see Praetorius et al., British Pat. 1,336,787.